Channing Tatum rules out appearing as Gambit in X-Men: Apocalypse

Channing Tatum has ruled out appearing as Gambit in the forthcoming blockbuster X-Men: Apocalypse.

The 22 Jump Street mainman will star in a new X-Men spin-off centred around Gambit, which begins shooting later this year, but has ruled himself out of appearing in Bryan Singer's new movie.

Asked in a new Reddit AMA whether Gambit would show up in the nex X-Men movie, Tatum said: "No ma'am, or sir. I definitely will not."

Earlier this week it was confirmed that Rupert Wyatt, who was behind the camera on Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and most recently directed Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler (read our full preview), will work from a script from RoboCop scribe Josh Zetumer.

Asked about Wyatt and how he would portray Gambit, Tatum added: "We finally found someone [Wyatt] that I really do believe wants to make [the movie]. I just really think because Gambit is not the most popular or the biggest hero, I think there's a really unique opportunity. Marvel's done a lot of great movies that have made a ridiculous amount of money, and it's always good to figure how to change the form."

Gambit, who was previously portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is a mutant who can mentally create, control and manipulate pure kinetic energy to his every whim and desire. He is also incredibly knowledgeable and skilled incard-throwing, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of a bō.

Tatum is currently filming roles in Quentin Tarantion's new thriller The Hateful Eight and The Coen Brothers' new comedy Hail, Caesar!. He will next be seen on screen in the sequel to Magic Mike, which is to be titled Magic Mike XXL.

X-Men: Apocalypse will see Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Evan Peters and Nicholas Hoult return for to reprise their roles. Bryan Singer will return as director, working from a script by Simon Kinberg, with a story from Singer, Kinberg, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris.

Oscar Isaac has been cast as the film's key villain, Apocalypse, who was first seen in the post-credit sequence for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film will be released on May 19th 2016 in the UK and May 27th in the US.